Brazilians' Slow Return To Area Buoys Tourism Outlook For 2002

Brazilians and their free-spending ways have been keenly missed in Central Florida's tourism market for the past several years as the giant South American nation plunged into economic crisis.

But there are signs that Brazilians may be starting to travel again in greater numbers, and on Monday U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill added more optimism by going to Brazil and endorsing the country's negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for financial aid.

Central Florida tourism operators say the drought in Brazilian tour groups to the Orlando area continues, but individual travel from Brazil seems to be picking up.

"On the street, Brazil is coming back slowly, but not to the level people would like," said Mark Brisson, marketing manager for Fun Spot Action Park on International Drive.

The Travel Industry Association of America projects that for 2002, Brazilian travel to the United States will increase to 595,000, up about 4 percent from 2001.

But that will still be more than 19 percent less than the number that visited in 2000 and well below the more than 900,000 Brazilians a year who visited annually in the late 1990s.

About half of all Brazilian visitors to the United States typically travel to Florida, generally Orlando and Miami.

Brazil was No. 2 in overseas visitors to Orlando in 2000, the most recent year for which statistics are available. Brazil accounted for 192,000 visitors that year, well below the United Kingdom's 1.3 million, but edging out Germany at 154,000, Argentina at 145,000 and Japan at 91,000.

Any rebound in Brazilian tourism is significant because Brazilians historically have been big spenders at hotels, attractions and shops wherever they visit, said Cathy Keefe, spokeswoman for the Travel Industry Association.

"They tend to stay longer, an average of 17 days, and spend three to four times as much as the average U.S. traveler," Keefe said. "That's why it's such a vital market."

Pirate's Dinner Adventure, a dinner theater near International Drive, has a sales agent in Brazil, and the agent there notes that air travel concerns and Brazilian political uncertainty, with upcoming elections, also played a role in depressing travel to the United States in recent months.

"With elections, the country gets a little crazy, but it should be much better after that," said Ana Gonzalez, sales and marketing director for Pirate's Dinner Adventure.

Although a higher percentage of Brazilian travelers these days are individuals, as opposed to groups, that trend actually could bode well for the future, Gonzalez predicts.

"The big groups in the past have really been budget groups," Gonzalez said, and particularly focusing on youth travel groups. But individual travelers tend to be older and wealthier and more accustomed to international travel, Gonzalez said.

O'Neill, who met with Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso on Monday, said Latin America's biggest economy has the right economic policies in place to continue growing.

"The United States stands ready to support Brazil as it continues to implement these policies," O'Neill said. "We support the discussions Brazil's authorities are now having with the IMF."

O'Neill's visit to Brazil comes as Brazilian officials hold talks with the IMF in Washington and after O'Neill last week caused a diplomatic spat by suggesting that aid to Brazil could end up in a Swiss bank account.

Washington defused the row after the White House said it would back international aid to Brazil and declared "great confidence" in its economic team.

O'Neill reiterated his confidence in Brazil, as well, on Monday, as he prepared to travel to other South American nations.